Canadian Thanksgiving was last month, but you can't blame Dylan Cease for celebrating it on Wednesday after reportedly signing the richest contract in Toronto Blue Jays history.
Cease is heading north of the border for seven years and $210 million. All the deferrals involved might knock down the average annual value to $26 million, but even a $182 million contract would be the most lucrative free agent deal the Jays have ever handed out; though it pales in comparison to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s $500 million extension in terms of overall guarantees.
I thought Cease's open market value might take a longer time to hash out, as his very real selling points (durability, strikeouts) could be countered by non-negligible questions about the payoff. As reliable as he's been in taking the ball and missing bats, his ERAs at the end of a season can look ordinary, and his penchant for inefficiency follows him into the postseason. That said, Blake Snell signed a five-year, $182 million deal (or $157 million net present value after deferrals) before the close of last November despite his own wide range of feasible outcomes, so perhaps it shouldn't surprise that the market was just as favorable to a guy who is three years younger.
Cease isn't the only former White Sox employee with big professional news to talk about at the dinner table on Thursday, because Ethan Katz was named an assistant pitching coach by the Houston Astros. On one hand, it's a step down in title. On the other, it could be a nice place for Katz to recharge his batteries, as he'll join an organization that won't be expecting him to shoulder the burden of modernizing it.
Here's hoping everybody in the Sox Machine community has similar joys to be thankful for, even if it's far less lucrative than $210 million, or, perish the thought, even $182 million. Happy Thanksgiving.
